Wednesday, June 26, 2019

The Past is Never Dead at The Faulkner

William Faulkner famously wrote "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Such is true as the past comes back to life at 518 East Capitol Street.  The Faulkner opened yesterday.  Buddy Faulkner and his daughter, Sarah, took a century-old building and turned it into a creation that represents the best of old and new Jackson.

Credit: Rick Guy


Buddy Faulkner bought the building at 518 East Capitol Street in 1993.  A variety of businesses occupied the building until several years ago.  The great-nephew of the famous author thought about converting the building into apartments.  However, Jeff Good and Jane Alexander said it would be "cool for event space." A market study showed Jackson could support such a venue.



The Faulkners created a home for weddings and other special events.  The Faulkner sports a swanky rooftop bar.  The original hardwood floors  were restored to their former beauty.  There is a room a sit-down dinner while a large ballroom occupies another floor.  Brides can use a large dressing room to prepare for the blessed event. Two floors are reserved for office space. A meeting room outfitted with the latest technology is available for rent.   The structure harkens back to the days when the Von Seutter family defined craftsmanship.

Mr. Faulkner said parking should not be an issue.  Security will be provided for all events.  Most events will be "after-hours."  The Faulkners are negotiating with the Department of Environmental Quality to use its parking lot on Amite Street for events.  Leasing is available through the J. Walter Michel Agency.

Check out the pictures of Jackson's newest attraction posted below.  They were taken by Rick Guy.  







The Ballroom






Office Space

The rooftop view.

Dressing Room

The original name of the building was uncovered and left intact.
1913


30 comments:

Anonymous said...

At around $6k for the evening they better hope they get big spenders in soon and often.

Anonymous said...

If I had a nickel for every time a Mississippian read a William Faulkner book, I'd have no nickels.

Anonymous said...

if he can rent out the office space he can do well with this spot.....nice place and good location....space is more needed than you think.

Anonymous said...

Looks like the perfect place for pretentious social climbers to pretend to be important influencers. It belongs in a city with a future like Nashville or Austin rather than the capital of corruption, waste, and excuses.

Burke said...

Wonderful building. I know Rusty Faulkner, Jimmy's son. Is Buddy hiw brother?

1:48, if I had a nickel for every time you said something stupid, I could fund my grandchildren's college educations.

Anonymous said...

"At around $6k for the evening they better hope they get big spenders in soon and often. "

$6K?!?!?

We're looking at around $50K for my daughter's wedding reception in Nashville. This place looks spectacular, and $6k would be a bargain!

Anonymous said...

You hit for the cycle on this coverage KF. Great job!

Anonymous said...

Rather than celebrate this beautiful addition to downtown, and to Jackson, the rednecks here pour on shit. So typical and yet another reason we will always be a country ass, hillbilly, redneck, pitiful place to be.

Anonymous said...

WHY do you miserable people have to get so nasty about something so positive? It is a beautiful facility and has preserved a building in Downtown Jackson. I wish them the very best, along with all of the other Downtown projects.

Anonymous said...

Look, if you can’t say anything positive, please keep your comments to yourself. I hope Buddy and his family do well. They are fine people. By the way, when did any of the negative posters contribute anything to the economy or society except stupid useless comments! Get to know the guy and you will like him.

jb said...

Beautiful Building. I hope they do well.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous. Love the rooftop venue, that's not something that's easily found in central Mississippi. I hope it's a great success.

Ellen said...

I was lucky to have been invited to one of the Faulkners' opening parties, and the venue is divine. The rooftop bar is heaven, and even the breeze co-operated; the dining room is spacious and intimate at the same time, and the ballroom was great fun. The bride's room and the groom's room are lovely and comfortable. They also have a boardroom, with an anteroom, and they are elegant! Al Lawson is responsible for the spectacular interior design. While at the party, my friends and I commented that we felt we had been plucked from Jackson and transported to another city. We all had a fabulous time!

Anonymous said...

Nice looking place! That rooftop bar, when heat and weather permits, would be an awesome spot for whiskey and a nice cigar!

Anonymous said...

My father used to say, “There are two kinds of people:
1. Those that support what they believe in and work hard to make it a reality. And
2. Those that criticize everything around them to try to make themselves look better.”

I am Buddy Faulkner, and I openhandedly welcome everyone become supportive of downtown Jackson. I believe Capitol Street is less than 10 new businesses away from defining its new direction. The city will soon be connecting downtown with the Fondren district with 2 shuttles and painted bike lanes where anyone(residents and visitors) can live, work, eat,be entertained, and return without driving! Downtown has a new 11,000sq ft grocery store coming, Both areas have work, residential, eating, and entertainment options, and soon will be linked together with. Shuttles. These are huge game changers!

Anonymous said...

Very nice! We need more stuff like this in Jackson. I wish them success, from across the river in Rankin County. And $6k just for a venue of this caliber is pretty competitive. It would blow your mind what some of these venues run.

Anonymous said...

Another Rankin resident here, I think this place looks lovely and I wish you luck and success.

Plain ol' Catfish said...

@ Buddy Faulkner

Well, brother, you rock in my book! F*ck all the damn haters and keep doing your thing.

I can see some big events happening at your place - you have the primaries coming up in August, I am pretty sure some campaign will want to host a watch/victory party on that gorgeous rooftop bar.

I know there are some Jackson State alums, that would love to host an event around Homecoming that is geared towards the older alumni, usually, there's a Brunch event that is done on Sunday's during that week.

Then you have office Christmas parties that will be coming up in December.

Then we are on to the Legislative Session, where lobbyist will look to new event spaces other than the Capital Inn and the Marriott or Hilton downtown, to host events!

In one of the aforementioned comments, a person stated they were going to Nashville to host a wedding event. Look, the city of Jackson and the state of Mississippi needs to be doing everything in their power to keep Mississippi dollars, in Mississippi! Especially when they are hard earned and hard to come by! You are providing a new and fresh option.

So give a big ol' fat middle finger to the naysayers in the burbs! Hell, you are doing them a favor when it comes to the bigger picture! A thriving Jackson means stronger thriving suburbs!

Keep up the good work!

Anonymous said...

Beginning in 2008 I worked in an office which overlooks this building. It was "under construction" the whole time, and I was never favorably impressed with the construction or the management of the project. (By the way, I spent about 35 years working with and managing construction projects, and in that time we did a hundred or so multi-million dollar projects, none of which took 10 years.) Our building also had a "rooftop lounge" that overlooks theirs, and ours was rarely used because it ain't that great of an idea. You do get a pretty good view of the parking garages and alleys. OTOH, wisely, we weren't there at night much.

I don't know how they're negotiating for parking with MDEQ, since their building and that parking lot actually belong to DFA. MDEQ can't even keep trespassers out of it without DFA's concurrence.

And to the poor sap who wrote, "We're looking at around $50K for my daughter's wedding reception in Nashville," you know what they say about a fool and his money.

Bill Dees said...

@3:49, @3:59, and @4:09 are exactly right. This place looks gorgeous! $6,000 for a wedding reception at The Faulkner is a bargain basement price at a beautiful venue.

Anonymous said...

First, $6k for a nice wedding venue like this is super reasonable, so this isn't just some preening NE Jackson thing.

I do agree that $50k on a wedding reception, as mentioned above, is extremely foolish and borderline immoral, given what that money could do if wisely donated or invested. That your daughter would even allow you to spend that much doesn't speak well to how you raised her.

But anyway, even if I don't believe Jackson is salvageable (and I don't), that's no cause for ire toward people who are still trying to improve it. You do you, Buddy.

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful venue. Well done!

$6,000 is very reasonable. (cost breakdown: facilities, amenities, food = $3,000...security = $3,000).

Anonymous said...

I grew up with Sarah Faulkner & she is still a dear friend of mine. She is super talented & I love what they've done with the building. Leave your negative comments elsewhere, this is a positive thing for Jackson!

Anonymous said...

The fifty grand for a wedding reception is a deal. I had to bite the bullet at CCJ about five years ago. All in to get a beautiful girl married and her Mother happy, bout $140,000. And I was told that was a deal. I guess so, they still married.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to the Faulkner family on all of their hard work and efforts in the restoration of this building, even if it may have taken 10 years (rolling my eyes at you, 9:06). This is a beautiful addition to the revitalization of Jackson and I wish you all much success to come, sincerely.

I really hope the Jackson leadership (as well as JPD with regard to ongoing crime issues downtown) help to support these businesses that are taking a gamble on investing in a City that was once thought beyond help.

I commend you Buddy and Sarah! Y'all should be extremely proud of what you have built.


Anonymous said...

I had the wonderful opportunity to get to know Buddy. He is not just another businessman throwing money at something. He has a true love for Jackson. I wish him and his family all the luck in the world. Great man!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful job Buddy!

Anonymous said...

I spent $25k on my wedding and about $2,000,000 on the divorce....worth every million.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous building. I hope it flourishes.

Anonymous said...

Is there a kitchen in the building? Looks lovely. We are blessed to have this wonderful new amenity. I look forward to being invited.


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